Improvement of performance and capacities of wireless ad hoc networks

Mobile Ad Hoc Networks are continuously self-organizing wireless networks with no fixed infrastructure, where network communication is established without a centralized administration. Security is an important issue for mobile ad hoc networks, due to the vulnerable nature of these networks. This thesis describes the effects of Pulse Jammer attack, Misbehavior Nodes attack and Byzantine attacks on the network performance under different traffic loads using Position-based Routing Protocol such as Geographic Routing Protocol (GRP), Proactive Routing Protocol such as Optimized Link State Routing (OLSR) Protocol and Reactive Routing Protocols such as Ad Hoc On Demand Distance Vector (AODV) Routing Protocol and Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) Protocol. The impact of security attacks on mobile ad hoc network performance is evaluated by investigating which attack is more harmful to the network. Additionally, mentioned security routing protocols are surveyed for mobile ad hoc networks and the performance of these routing protocols are compared under Pulse Jammer attack, under Misbehavior Node attack and under Byzantine attack. Simulation results using OPNET simulator show that the efficient utilization of the network reduces considerably in the presence of the mentioned attacks.